Relocated London Packaging Week has successful opening
Richard Stuart-Turner, 22 September 2023
London Packaging Week opened its doors to just under 3,000 visitors on 21 September on the opening day of the two-day luxury packaging event, which has relocated to London’s ExCel this year.
Event organiser Easyfairs reported a 64.1% increase on last year's attendance and a 27.7% increase in leads for the 170 exhibitors at the sold out show. London Packaging Week made its debut as a new major event in the capital for the packaging industry last year at Olympia. It replaced Packaging Innovations & Luxury Packaging London, to bring the branding in line with Easyfairs’ other European packaging events.
The show now comprises of four exhibitions: Packaging Première for the luxury products market; PCD for perfume, make-up and toiletries; PLD for premium and luxury drinks; and Food & Consumer Pack for food.
The event is also hosting galleries showcasing innovative and award-winning packaging design, while presentations have been taking place across three seminar stages, with speakers including Jamie Laing, co-founder of Candy Kittens, Teddie Levenfiche and Marisa Poster, co-founders of PerfectTed, and beauty guru Liz Earle.
Some of the new products being highlighted at the Innovation Showcase section include ‘Window Box’ bottle packaging from Flexi-Hex, a five-layer rigid pyramid shaped chocolate box from Güneş Boxes & Packaging, and inclusive packaging with micro-embossed braille indications and a QR code area from Eviosys.
The predominant trend of the show this year appears to be that packaging should be beautiful, functional, and sustainable; ideally, all three, with many visitors keen to reduce their use of plastic. Speaking to Printweek at the event yesterday, marketing manager Naomi Stewart said: “I think generally the feedback has been really good. Visitors and exhibitors are all very happy and the venue is just perfect for this type of thing. We really pushed in the marketing the ease of getting to the ExCel with the use of the Elizabeth Line, and I think the space is a lot better for the exhibitors as well.
“At Olympia we were on two floors but on one floor it’s so much more accessible for everyone. It just feels bigger and better.” Stewart added the show has a “completely different audience” to the flagship Birmingham NEC event Packaging Innovations, with only a 5% crossover in visitors. She said the show will also move back to running on a Wednesday and Thursday next year, instead of including a Friday, and will be moving to different halls within the ExCel.
Exhibitors that Printweek spoke to at the ExCel were also happy with the first day. […]
Stuart McLellan, sales director at Delga Press, part of The Meliora Group, also commented: “I like the show and think it’s great. We didn’t know what to expect but footfall has been up which is promising. [The venue] is fairly accessible for us and most attendees, and there’s been a good vibe.
“There’s been a mix of business, and some really good conversations have taken place, and I think we’re on point with our messaging – packaging, labels, sustainable, personalisation, and variable data.
“Because we’ve got that crossover between labels and packaging, I think people have engaged with that and like that offering. And the fact that we’ve got both digital and litho, from a scaling up perspective, means you can do a journey with people.”
Source: Printweek